Friends of the Archives Annual Meeting! April 19,2016
Noelle Szydlk, state director of the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay is the featured speaker at the twenty-sixth Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Indiana State Archives on Tuesday, April 19, at the Indiana State Library, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis.
A buffet luncheon and brief Friends business meeting will precede the presentation. The luncheon and meeting will begin at noon. The price of the luncheon is $16.00, payable at the door, but you must reserve a lunch in advance. Please call Barb Wood at 317-313-6561 or e-mail b.wood@att.net by April 10 for reservations. Checks should be made payable to FISA. Individuals may attend the talk at no cost.
For directions and information about parking, visit the State Library’s website.
Come and join in celebrating this year’s accomplishments of the Friends!
(February 29, 2016)Congratulations to our volunteers on their latest House and Senate Concurrent Resolution! And a big thank you for donating 100,000 hours! (Read more!)
Happy 199th Birthday Indiana!
December 11, 2015: Join the celebration at the Statehouse as the Bi-Centennial Celebrations get underway! If you can’t make it to the party, perhaps revisit these pages to learn more about Indiana’s constitutions.
Christmas at the Capitol December 4th and 5th!
Please join us at the Christmas at the Capitol event tomorrow evening from 5:30-7:00 pm or Saturday from 1:-2:30 pm at the Capitol Rotunda. Youth choirs from across the State will be on hand to entertain all. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Indiana State Archives.
Archives News!
The Archives will be closed all day December 24th and 25th in observance of the Christmas Holiday.
Electronic Records Day! 10/10/15
Electronic Records Awareness and Celebration this Week
INDIANAPOLIS October 7-10,2015, The Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA) invites you to join the archival community in celebrating Electronic Records Day on October 10!
Created by the Council of State Archivists and designated by the Archivist of the United States David Ferriero, head of the National Archives and Records Administration, 10.10 was chosen to symbolize bits and bytes in the computing world.
Sponsored by the Indiana Archives and Records Administration (IARA), the recognition of Electronic Records Day seeks to make Hoosiers more aware of electronic records and the challenges involved in managing and preserving them. As more and more official and personal business is conducted electronically, what action is needed to make sure our important electronic records survive and can still be read 200 years from now? IARA has put together a downloadable poster to raise awareness about digital records and is providing additional resources in preparation for October 10th , this Saturday.
In collaboration with CoSA, IARA has selected these informational resources for you to download as a PDF.
10 reasons why electronic records need special attention.
Advocacy Awareness and Electronics Records Day
Tips for Government Agencies Working with Electronic Records
Tips for Managing Electronic Communications in Government
Tips for Managing Personal Electronic Records
The Indiana Archives & Records Administration.
Archives News!
Show your support for the new Indiana State Archives building! The Indiana General Assembly has approved Governor Mike Pence’s request that the budget include $25 million to fund the construction of the new Indiana State Archives building, however a location has yet to be chosen. A passage in the bill banned the Archives from the canal location on Ohio Street across from the State Library. Please, continue to show support for the Archives and express your interest in seeing the Archives back downtown near the other historic agencies.
Archives News!
Show your support for the new Indiana State Archives building! The Indiana General Assembly is considering Indiana’s two-year state budget. Governor Mike Pence has requested that the budget include $25 million to fund the construction of a new Indiana State Archives building. That Request is reflected in the budget bill, House Bill 1001. We need your support. Read about the building and find useful Talking Points, here.
Friends of the Archives Annual Meeting! April 14,2015
Cynthia Hoye, Executive Director of the Indiana State Fair Commission, will be the featured speaker at the twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Freinds of the Indiana State Archives on Tuesday, April 14, at the Indiana State Library, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis.
Cynthia Hoye has been a member of the Indiana State Fair Commission since 1988 and Executive Director since 2004. She will speak on “Memories in the Making–the historic renovation of the Indiana’s Farmers’ Coliseum”
Hoye’s talk will follow a buffet luncheon and brief Friends business meeting. The luncheon and meeting will begin at noon. The price of the luncheon is $16, payable at the door. Please call Barb Wood at 317-313-6561 or e-mail b.wood@att.net by April 10 for reservations. Individuals may attend the talk at no cost.
For directions and information about parking, visit the State Librarys website.
Digital Archives has been named a Best State Website by Family Tree Magazine again in 2014!
Fall 2014- America’s #1 family history publication has named the Indiana Digital Archives one of the best State websites once again! A big thank you to all of our volunteers for your wonderful work!
The 2016 Indiana Bicentennial Commission has endorsed a solution for a much needed new Archives Building. Read the details in the Summer newsletter, and track the progress in the Fall 2014 edition.
Indiana Digital Archives News!
Psst! The Indiana Digital Archives has moved to its new home! Visit the newDigital Archives. Official announcement coming soon!
The State Historic Records Advisory Board Report on the current conditions of the State Archives is now available here on the Friends of the Indiana State Archives website in PDF format. The report is very informative and details the needs for a new secure Archival facility. With our upcoming state bicentennial in 2016, now is the time for all Hoosiers to embrace the relevance of our state’s historic records to the needs of not only their future, but that of their children and grandchildren. Everyday the State Archives is contacted for records that effect the future of Indiana families.
in what he had collected and what he knew and noted down regarding the old families and the old haunts and the old ways. And not for himself alone had he gathered it, but for an indefinite somebody in the future. Doesnt it give you a sensation of warmth such as you may get when you think of the grandchildren of your grandchildren whom you will never see and yet who are the you of 2021 and 2121?
William J. Hamilton, Secretary of the Indiana Public Library Commission, December 10, 1921.
INDIANAPOLIS (September 30, 2013) The Indiana State Archives will celebrate its centennial on October 1, 2013.
The State Archives first began operating on a part-time basis in 1906 under a reorganization plan. In 1913, House Enrolled Act 254 provided funding that allowed the State Archives to operate full time beginning on October 1. Through this Act, the Indiana General Assembly sought to preserve and protect the most valuable records of Indiana Government through the creation of a State Archives.
A century later, More…
Indianapolis Business JournalDemands “Save the Archives”
Indianapolis Business Journal has published an article calling on the State Legislature to save the Indiana State Archives. The dilapidated building on the east side of Indianapolis where the states archives are stored needs to be replacedand the sooner, the better. The risk of tornado or other calamity destroying priceless documents in a structure originally used by RCA to warehouse 8-track tapes is simply too great.
In the unthinkable event of a disaster, many of the documents could not be recovered.
The Journal rightfully points to the disasters that could befall the many treasures held at the Archives, including the most relevant records to Indiana residents such as Military discharge records, often the only copies left since the unfortunate fire in Saint Louis in 1973. These documents help thousands of veterans and their families gain home loans, education, medical, and burial benefits. Additionally, the Archives houses transcripts for closed nursing schools, as well as the Indiana School for the Blind and Deaf, and the Soldiers and Sailors Childrens Home, and Naturalization records.
The writer discusses the Archives move to its current location at 6440 E. 30th Street, which was originally only to be temporary, but any plans for a new building had to be put on hold during the recession. Though there were occasional environmental issues in the old location at the State Library, the Archives in its temporary location, are constantly at the mercy of the elements. The ancient ventilation system spews soot-like crumbs of deteriorated insulation. And, partly because of air leaks in the building shell, humidity levels swing between 15 percent and 60 percent.
Name a state that treats its treasured documents worse, challenges the Journal.
Since the move, two tornados have passed menacingly close the building, in effect dodging bullets like the law-men who survived run-ins with John Dillinger, states the Journal. The Archives holds Dillingers records as well as thousands of other prisoners, state hospital patients, and foster care files from the late 1800s. Many of the indexes to these treasured collections may be searched on the Indiana Digital Archives.
The Journal reminds us that the Archives celebrates its Centennial anniversary this year. What a perfect time for the legislature to tap into its surplus to ensure the safety of all records of enduring value for all Hoosiers as well as their historic legacy. The writer suggests that new Governor Mike Pence, a history major in college, could cut the ribbon for a new facility in time for the states bicentennial in 2016.
It would certainly seem the perfect time for a new Archives:
A new administration with an understanding for the value of history.
Centennial Anniversary of the State Archives
Budget Surplus
1816-2016 Statehood Bicentennial approaching
Digital Archives has been named a Best State Website by Family Tree Magazine for Third Year in a Row!
December 18, 2012- America’s #1 family history publication has named the Indiana Digital Archives one of the Seventy Five best State websites for the third year in a row! More…
Digital Archives has been named a 2011 Best State Website by Family Tree Magazine.
Fall 2011- For the second year in a row the Indiana State Digital Archives has been named to Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Websites The list of honorees in its December 2011 issue….. More…
Digital Archives has been named a 2010 Best State Website by Family Tree Magazine.
October 13, 2010- America’s #1 family history publication released the list of honorees in its December 2010 issue….. More…
The Friends of the Archives has added yet another way to keep keep up to date! We are now using a new Constant Contact Calendar. To receive reminders about the new Digital Archives as well as other Indiana digital initiatives send your email address to Connie Rendfeld at carendfeld@aol.com. The service is free, but members of the Friends of the Indiana State Archives will receive an additional bonus, as they will now have the option to receive a digital copy of the Archives Current newsletter.Volunteers are Needed to work on a variety of projects. Some of which are:
Processing of Court Records
Data entry and processing of Parole records,
Verification of Land Office Entries
Indexing and proofing of naturalization records
Click here to learn moreThe Index to Historical National Guard Records is Now Available Online!Researchers are now able to search historic records of thousands of Indiana National Guardsmen through the Indiana Digital Archives. The Indiana National Guard Collection indexes records of Hoosiers who served our nation from 1898 through 1940. The database includes the soldier’s name, ….More…
Civil War Records Added to the Digital ArchivesJun 08, 2010 –INDIANAPOLIS – Historians, researchers and others interested in Indiana’s Civil War history can now search for specific individuals who served during the conflict through the new Indiana Civil War Soldiers Database available at the Indiana Digital Archives. The database contains over 213,000 individual records compiled by volunteers and staff from the Indiana State Archives and the Friends of the Indiana State Archives…. More…
Indiana Digital ArchivesThe Indiana State Archives is thrilled to announce our new online Digital Archive! This invaluable new resource is the result of a cooperative partnership made possible by… . More…Volunteers Receive Concurrent Resolution!For the second year in a row our volunteers have received a special concurrent House and Senate Resolution acknowledging their tremendous efforts on behalf of the Indiana State Archives. More…
New Eugenics WebsiteThe Friends of the Indiana State Archives would like to announce the new website “Fit to Breed”, created by IUPUI and using numerous Eugenics related documents and photos from the Indiana State Archives and the Indiana State Library. Please visit this wonderful resource on the history of Indiana Eugenics.
Welcome FriendsThe Friends of the Indiana State Archives, Inc., established in 1990, is a not-for-profit organization of citizens concerned with helping the Indiana State Archives fulfill its role as the permanent repository for official records of state and local government in Indiana. The Friends supports the management, preservation, and responsible use of Indiana’s public records and serves as an advocate for the Indiana State Archives and the pursuit of suitable new building.Through enlistment of volunteers and fundraising for special projects, the Friends is helping the Archives reduce processing backlogs and rescue historical papers at risk from the spoilage of time and the environment.Click here to download the membership form.
Friends of the Indiana State Archives 